Ushering The Big 4-0

In the space of 25 days, two members of the ERE team were elevated to the "senior" or "veteran" status. Yup, they, or rather, Shikin and I, turned 40. What's in an age anyway? Well, for starters, your colleagues go through the extra effort to make the passing of this milestone a little more memorable than usual.



My dear friends (especially those born before 1967) wasted no time in pointing out that mid-life crisis loomed, with suggestions pouring in about getting a flashy sports car, extra-marital affairs and so on. Since I can’t afford a flashy sports car and I'm still single, I figured I’m safe for now. I can always add some colour to my hair, I guess. There are of course some targets that I had wished to achieve when this milestone came by, and some on the list has been checked off, while a few others remained unchecked. That’s in no way a major disappointment of course. Life goes on, and I'm perhaps more determined than ever to fulfill certain ambitions in life.


My 40th birthday started with the news that Chelsea beat us in the 1st leg of the Champions League semi final 1-0. Dreary. I had an EMP to rush out on that day, so the 8 hours in the office on 26 April was pretty much a blur. Any reflections on mid-life crisis just had to wait.



Then came dinner time. The celebratory meal took place at Marche's, where the sweet smell of sausages and rösti was more than enough set up the mood of the night.




Look at the size of that Weiner!



The table groaned under the weight of sautéed mushrooms, mushroom soup, salad, more sausages and rösti as the crazy gang attacked the food pretty much with the same enthusiasm as I did. Ice cream, pudding and cake capped a fine dinner, as everyone recklessly piled on the calories.




Sauteed mushrooms were the order of the night...

Mr. President appears to have overeaten

Nothing like a satisfying meal, not even scraps remained

Celebrations did not end there of course. Veterans just have it made, I guess. There was another round of partying on the next day at the office, throwing up a buffet of curry puffs, carrot cake, muffins and teh tarik.

The customary pose with the cake.....

Make a wish and blow out the candles...

After the wish-making and candle-blowing, there was presentation of the all-important birthday card. It was original, it was thoughtful, it was beautiful.

You'll Never Walk Alone...

There was singing; an attempted and botched rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone by a makeshift ERE choir wasn’t quite enough to bring tears to my eyes (not in the way Jordin Sparks did), but I was very touched nevertheless. In 40 or so birthdays I’ve had (I may have missed one or two celebrations), this one will be forever etched in my mind.

Walk on... walk on...with hope, in your heart.....

Fast forward to 21 May (the day after...), it was dear Shikin’s turn to mark her 40th birthday. “40 is the new 30” she would say, as she wisely makes no attempt to conceal her age. A surprise lunch at Chili’s was in store for her, and it would have worked too, if someone had remembered that Chili’s is closed for business on Mondays. That fiasco resulted in Mr. President running around the block with the birthday cake, in what would be a futile attempt to conceal it from the birthday girl.


We eventually salvaged the luncheon by going to Red Chilli in Taipan, where she was duly presented with roses, the birthday cake and the all-important birthday card.

Fiza forgets to curtsey as she presents the flowers to the birthday girl

I'm so happy...

Sathya did manage to surprise her with the card, thereby retaining some element of surprise in the party.

My, she is really thrilled with the card....

Ah, that's the reason...

Mr. President looks flushed after going cross country with the cake

The crazy gang at ERE led by the President and his trusty sidekick (Director of Parties) has respectfully ushered the big 4-0 for us in a truly memorable fashion. You guys are simply the best.

Thank you.